It is a long uphill trudge to the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Lapa from the centre of Porto. Our hotel was close to the Rotunda da Boavista which meant he had a more or less gradient free walk across the north of the city to the Cemitério da Lapa and meant we didn’t have to make that long climb on a hellishly hot day. It turned out to be a flying visit; we had set out to walk there on the 15th August without realising that it was a feriado, a public holiday to mark Assumption Day (marking the Virgin Mary’s ascent into heaven), which meant that the cemetery closed early. When we first arrived, there were a few other people there visiting graves or, a very typical sight in Portuguese cemeteries, busying themselves with sweeping brushes and dusters, tidying up the family mausoleum. After an hour the place was deserted until a grumpy official from the church tracked me down and began ostentatiously tapping his watch and pointing to the exit. When I did not scurry away immediately, he pulled a large set of keys from his pocket and shook them at me; the meaning was clear, ‘bugger off or I’ll lock you in.’
The
cemetery attached to the Igreja da Lapa is one of Portugal’s most famous burial
grounds. Legal authorisation for the construction of a cemetery next to the
church was granted by Dom Pedro IV to the Lapa Brotherhood in July 1833, in the
final weeks of the year long siege of Porto during the Portuguese civil war. High mortality rates during the siege and the
subsequent cholera epidemic had rapidly filled up existing burial spaces in the
city. The catholic authorities were also aware that the liberal government of Dom
Pedro was planning to pass laws forcing municipal authorities in Portugal to
open public cemeteries, a very controversial measure at the time. Lapa was a
private Catholic cemetery and effectively became, when consecrated in 1838, the
first modern cemetery in the country.
The original cemetery was designed like an Italian Campos Santos with large vault- chapels at the edge of the cemetery surrounding a central section which was the space for smaller monuments. The vault-chapels were private chapels which had space for 8 or more coffin burials on shelves that were then enclosed with a stone carrying the deceased’s epitaph. Only the wealthiest families could afford a vault-chapel. The middle section of the original cemetery was the space for more modest memorials, though it has to be said that most of these are fairly spectacular and clearly were extremely expensive. The poor were buried elsewhere! The cemetery proved to be extremely popular and within ten years additional land had to be acquired to extend. Further extensions followed during the 19th century until there was no available adjacent land to extend onto.
One of the most striking aspects of the cemetery Cemetery is its architectural diversity. It boasts a variety of tomb styles, from neoclassical and neo-Gothic to Art Nouveau and modernist designs. This architectural eclecticism reflects the changing tastes and trends of the eras in which the tombs were constructed, offering a visual journey of bourgeoise funereal fashion through time. Elaborate angels, saints, and mournful figures can be found adorning many graves. Dotted around the cemetery are notices inscribed in stone enjoining 'Respeito pelos mortos', respect for the dead. In its time Lapa was a trendsetting cemetery for northern Portugal and its design and memorials were used as templates for other cemeteries such as Agramonte.
The
tomb of António Francisco Ferreira da Silva Porto (24 August 1817 – 2 April
1890) describes him as ‘o grande sertanejo’, the great explorer of the interior
of Angola. He was famous enough at the turn of the 19thh century for his death
and funeral to be reported in the provincial English newspapers:
Silva
Porto, the old pioneer of Portuguese exploration in Africa, has been buried at
Oporto, and extraordinary public honours were paid the remains of the deceased
on being conveyed from Lisbon to Oporto. Members of the Royal Family and the
Ministers walked immediately behind the coffin. Cardinal Ferreira dos Santos
Silvas pronounced the absolution over the remains of the Portuguese explorer,
Silva Porto, at the Lapa Church in Oporto. immense congregation was present,
including representatives of the King and Queen and Royal Family, the Minister
of Marine, and other prominent officials.
Tamworth Herald - Saturday 18 April 1891
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